Panel wall louvers



May 4, 1965 T. COCHRAN PANEL WALL LOUVERS Filed May 27, 1963 INVENTOR. THOMAS L. COCHRAN FIG. 3

ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 3,181,661 PANEL WALL LOUVERS Thomas L. Cochran, Davenport, Iowa, assignor to American Air Filter Company, Inc, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 27, 1963, Ser. No. 283,162 Claims. (U. 189-54) This invention relates generally to louvers, and relates specifically to a louver and fastening means construction particularly adapted for use with panel walls.

The provision of a satisfactory arrangement for securing wall louvers in openings in relatively thin, metallic panel walls has presented a number of problems. One problem has been that the commonly used exposed fasteners have detracted from the appearance of the exterior wall. Another problem has been that the holes pre-drilled in the louver exterior flange do not always register with the holes pro-drilled in the panel wall (the louvers and panel wall usually being furnished by separate manufacturers). Where mis-aligned holes do occur, the solution of drilling additional holes is precluded where a porcelain enamel finish is involved due to the likelihood of rusting or corrosion of the material around the new holes.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a louver and fastening means which substantially eliminates the above problems.

Other objects are to provide an arrangement which simplifies the manner in which the louver is installed, which secures the louver in a fashion that practically precludes its removal from outside the building, and which will accommodate different panel wall thicknesses.

In its simplest form the invention provides an arrangement in which the louver is wedged into place by means bearing against both faces of the panel wall. To this end, the louver is provided with an exterior face flange which seats against the exterior face of the panel wall around the louver opening; wedging surfaces which extend at an angle relative to, and between, the planes of the inner and outer faces of the louver are provided on the perimeter of the louver frame; and slide fasteners which engage the wedging surfaces and the inner face of the panel wall are moved along these surfaces until the exterior face flange of the louver is drawn up tightly against the exterior face of the panel wall.

The invention will be described in greater detail in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating one embodiment incorporating the principles of the invention by way of example and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partly broken isometric view of a wall louver positioned for installation in a fragmentary section of panel wall;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view corresponding to one taken along the line 2-2 of FIG URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary top view of one of the fastening units of the wall louver, and illustrating the range of wall thicknesses which may be accommodated by the particular fastening unit illustrated.

A general understanding of the invention is perhaps best realized from the representation of FIGURE 1. As there shown, the main parts of the wall louver proper comprise an open-faced perimetric frame 10, an assembly of louver blades 12 within the frame, and an outwardly-directed, exterior-face flange 14.

The illustrated fragment of panel wall 16 having outer face 18 and inner face 20 is provided with a rectangular opening dimensioned to accommodate the particular size rectangular louver. As such, the opening is slightly larger than the outside dimension of the frame 10.

For pulling the louver tightly into place in the opening,

several fastening assemblies are provided at spaced locations around the edge of the perimetric frame 10. In the illustrated example, two such assemblies are shown in association with the top edge of the frame 10 and another pair of assemblies (not shown) are associated with the bottom edge of the frame in the same manner. It will be appreciated that the assemblies may be spaced other than as shown, such as one assembly for the top edge, one for the bottom edge, and one for each of the opposite end edges. Each fastening assembly illustrated includes a rail element 22 fastened to the frame 10, and separate clip means 24 adapted to engage the rail element and inner face of the panel wall in a manner that pulls the louver securely into place in the opening.

Referring now to FIGURES 1-3, each of the rails 22 is L-shaped in cross-section and has one uniform width leg 26 secured by screws 27 to the marginal portion of the inner face 28 of the louver in a position that the other leg 3%) overlies the frame edge and is spaced therefrom a distance which accommodates the thickness of the material from which the clip means is made. This other leg 30 is of tapered Width to provide the slant edge 32 which, as shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, extends at a slight angle relative to, and between, the planes of the inner face 28 and outer face 34- of the frame.

The clip means 24 is also generally L-shaped in crosssection and includes a main flange portion 36 provided with holes 38 to optionally receive screws 40, and a tongue portion 42 having its free end bent back upon itself or retroverted to form a hook 44. As shown, it is preferable that the line along which the tongue portion is bent to form the end hook be at an angle, relative to the plane in which the flange portion 36 lies, corresponding to the angle between the slant edge 32 and the plane in which the uniform width leg 26 lies. This provides a maximum surface engagement between the inside of thehook end 44 and the wedging surface 32 for stabilizing the engagement.

The rails 22 are preferably attached to the louver frame during assembly of the louver, and the clip means 24 accompany the louver to the job site in unattached form. To install the louver in the opening in the panel wall, the louver proper with attached rails 22 is inserted from the outside of the building into the opening so that the flange 14 laps the marginal portion of the outer face of the wall framing the opening. The clip means 24 are then assembled to the remainder of the louver from inside the building.

Each clip is positioned with its hook end 44 adjacent the narrow end of its respective slant leg 39 and disposed to engage the slant edge 32. With the hook end 44 in a position to so engage the slant edge, the flange portion 36 of the clip means automatically projects outwardly so that it will move into engagement with the inner face of the panel wall in lapping relation when the clip is slid along the slant leg 30. FIGURE 1 shows the left-hand clip in its final position after being slid along the rail to a point where the flange portion 36 tightly engages the inner face 20 of the panel wall. Thus the left-hand upper corner of the outer flange 14 of the louver has been drawn up tightly against the outer face 18 of the panel wall. The right-hand clip of FIGURE 1 is shown in a position ready to be moved into engagement with the rail and to be slid to the right as indicated by the directional arrow adjacent the clip. The clips which engage the rails on the bottom of the louver (none of which are shown) are handled in the same way as the top clips.

After the clips have all been finally positioned on their respective rails so that the outer flange 14 seats firmly against the outer face 18 of the panel wall all around the opening, and the flange portions 36 of the clips all seat firmly against the inner face of the panel wall, holes may Patented May 4, 1965 be drilled in the inner face 20 of the panel wall through the holes 36, and the sheet metal screws '40 may then be used. However, it is not mandatory that the flange portions 36 be screwed to the wall since the angle of the slant edge 32 is sufliciently low that once the clips have been slid forcibly into position the frictional forces between clips and rails alone prevent disengagement.

All of the figures purposely show a panel wall 16 of somewhat greater thickness than the louver frame 10. For this reason the left-hand clip of FIG. 1 in its final posi-' tion is some distance from the maximum width end of the slant leg 30. In FIGURE 3, the solid-line clip'position illustrates a final clip position where the wall thickness is somewhat greater than the louver thickness, while the broken-line clip positions illustrate the extremes of 'wall thickness which the arrangement will accommodate.

From the foregoing, the advantages of the invention may be readily appreciated. The only information which need be given to the panel wall manufacturer by the louver manufacturer is the size of the opening to be pro-- vided in the Wall. Since no holesneed be drilled in the wall by the wall manufacturer, there is no chance the holes will be mislocated. Thus there is no chance that the commonly used porcelain enamel will be subjected to damage due to holesfldrilled at the site. Obviously,

there are no fasteners exposed on the outside of the buildthe frame edge. -Otherv departures from the details illustrated might also be made within'the scope of the'invention as defined by the following claims The invention claimed is: V 1. A louver and means for securing it in an a wall, comprising:v a

(a) an open-faced perimetric frame for said louver;

opening in (b) outwardly-directed flangemeans on the outer face of said frame adapted to seat against the outer face,

of said wall when'said louver is installed;

(c) wedging surfaces at spaced locations on the periphery of said frame, each said surface, extending diagonally for at least part of the distancebetween the inner and outer faces of said louver; and (d) a separate and independent clip means for each of said surfaces, eachof said clip means having a hook endengagingsaidsurface extending diagonally, and a right angle flange portion engaging an inner face of said wall, surrounding said opening, assaid hook end is forced along saidsurface extending diagonally, each of said clip means being independently attachable to its respective surface.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

2. The construction specifiedinclaim 1 wherein: (a) each of said wedging surfaces is formed on the edge of a leg of a rail member; and

(b) said leg is spaced outwardly from the periphery of said frame sufiiciently to accommodate the retroverted portion of said hook end between said leg and said periphery. "3. A louver and means for securing it in an opening in a wall, comprising:

(a) an'open-faced perimetric frame for said louver carrying outwardly-directed flange means on its outer face;

(b) means spaced about the'periphery of said frame forming surfaces which are slanted relative to the plane of said frameyand (c) a separate and independent clip means for each of ,said slanted surfaces, said clip means including a tongue portion having a hook end engaging said surface and a flange portion normal to said tongue portion bearing against the innerface of said wall, each 'of said clip meansbeing independently attachable to its respective surface a i e I 4. A louver and means for securing it in an opening in a wall comprising: i

(a) an open-faced perimetric frame carryingoutwardly-directed flange means adapted to seat against the outer face of said wall when said louver is installed; 1

(b) a series of rails secured to saidframe, each rail including a tapered width leg having a free edge extending diagonally betweenthe planes of the inner and outer facesof said frame, said tapered width leg being spaced outwardly from said perimetric frame to form a space therebetween; and I a (c) a separate and independent cli for each rail including a tongue portion having-a hook end'slidably engaging said free edge, and an outwardly-directed flange portion which moves .into seating relationship with the inner face of said WalIFassaid clip is moved in the direction of. increasing width of said tapered width leg,'said hook end including a retroverted portion projecting into said space between said tapered width leg and said frame. 5. The construction specified in claim 4 wherein: (a) the length'of said tongue portionis approximately equalto the maximum width of said tapered leg.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,727,296 9/29 'Mau j 189--36 x r 2,766,856 10/56 Nelsson 18946' FOREIGN/PATENTS "503,908 "6/54 Canada;

for said louver 

1. A LOUVER AND MEANS FOR SECURING IT IN AN OPENING IN A WALL, COMPRISING: (A) AN OPEN-FACED PERIMETRIC FRAME FOR SAID LOUVER; (B) OUTWARDLY-DIRECTED FLANGE MEANS ON THE OUTER FACE OF SAID FRAME ADAPTED TO SEAT AGAINST THE OUTER FACE OF SAID WALL WHEN SAID LOUVER IS INSTALLED; (C) WEDGING SURFACES AT SPACED LOCATIONS ON THE PERIPHERY OF SAID FRAME, EACH SAID SURFACE EXTENDING DIAGONALLY FOR AT LEAST PART OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE INNER AND OUTER FACES OF SAID LOUVER; AND 